It’s couples’ day! A few news items lately that involve ‘couples.’

Not-so-strange political bedfellows. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and current New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie seem to be wanting many of the same supporters and, more importantly right now, donors. Bush is winning the early returns and Christie, slipping from popularity since his peeps closed the bridges to New York, continues slip-sliding away in his ranking for the GOP nomination, which neither of them has announced for formally. Bush hasn’t ventured on to New Jersey turf yet, since that would be a breach of protocol, but he is burning up the phone lines to Christie supporter at the state level. And the Bush connections go much further back than Christie’s. Look for Christie not to run.

The Creepy Brothers. John Travolta and Vice President Joe Biden lately are in the news for being creepy. The Veep often says goofy things (what Veep hasn’t?) and lately is making news for questionable touching, like when he had his hands on the shoulders of the new defense secretary’s wife in what came across in news photos as just, uh, weird.

Weirder, though, was Travolta’s creepy hug and touching of Scarlet Johansson at the Oscars the other day. Of course that was after he was even weirder than last year (when he butchered pronouncing Indina Menzel’s name). This year, in the spirit of good nature and self-deprecation, he did a shtick with Menzel over last year’s incident, which showed he could be fun. But then he went all kitchy-kitchy-koo with her face on the stage during the shtick. Both are what we used to call “icky” in their behavior. Today, it’s just creepy.

Politics and Safety. Republicans in Congress are making it an odd couple by politicizing the funding for the Department of Homeland Security and holding it hostage to the President’s executive action on immigration. Really, boys? This is how you show you can govern, by threatening to shut down the homeland protection agency over your differences with the President on immigration? And Majority Leader Mitch McConnell thought he’d show the country what adults Republicans can be. As an old boss of mine used to say of right wingers, “they like to look good losing.” They will fall on their sword over a principle instead of doing the correct thing.

Dumb and Dumber. First former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani accuses the President of not loving America and then Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who is supposed to be a leading candidate for the GOP presidential nomination, punts when asked if Obama is a Christian by saying never talked to the President about that, so he wouldn’t know.

Boys, boys. Grow up, please. Walker I’ll chalk up to (being overly nice), it being his first time on the national stage and making a rookie error (and that is VERY generous) but Rudy? Really, Rudy? That’s what you’re going with, that the President doesn’t love the country or its people? Walker, based on the way the numbers work out (he appeals to conservatives but does well in blue states where the GOP moderates live) actually has a shot at the nomination. But a few more stupid answers like the ones he gave last week and he’ll be joining Gov. Christie on the sidelines.

It would be too easy to conflate two news items – Brian Williams’ suspension from NBC’s nightly news and John Stewart’s departure from his nightly satirical news show – so I’ll pass on the temptation..

Plus Williams’ suspension and the way his superiors are handling it are far too serious to mix it with a comedian's career.

NBC and Williams’ handling of his problems are strange to me, as someone who did crisis communications, which means helping to manage crises not just communicate about them, during my working days.

Here is a summary of NBC and Williams’ reactions during the last week or so of the controversy:

First, Williams apologized for his memory lapses. Then when the problem didn’t go away, NBC announced an internal investigation to get to the bottom of it all, even though Williams had already admitted he conflated. Then Williams’ announced an apparently voluntary suspension of himself from his anchor duties for a few days because he had become the news. Then, before the self-suspension ended, NBC suspended Williams for six months without pay, but before the internal investigation, which they said would take weeks, was over. And, they are implying Williams will be back in his seat at the end of the six months.

If a politician handled his own crisis this way, NBC would be all over him trying to figure out what’s going on and why he keeps changing his tune almost daily. They'd wonder what he's hiding.

I do think Williams should lose his job over his failures, unfortunately. To sit in a trusted spot that millions of us tune to for credible news reporting and then violate that trust, well, that’s a firing offense.

Some say Williams should be forgiven because it wasn’t in his normal job responsibilities that he made these mistakes. But he is always in the public spotlight and that means his public behavior does affect his anchor credibility, just as any politician’s behavior – whether acting in his or her official duties or his personal life – has become a measuring stick for performance. The public trust is the public trust and everyone who holds that trust should be held to the same standard.  

So, too, for the news division executives, who are in the forefront of this NBC drama.

NBC’s news division has not performed well.“Today” has been slipping for years (as have all other morning news shows), NBC’s “Meet the Press” is in free fall because it can’t find a credible (there’s that word again) host for it since the incomparable Tim Russert died, and the woman in charge of fixing the division has failed at that job.

Interestingly, the nightly news was the jewel for the division, leading the other broadcast networks, heading into Williams’ self-inflicted woes. And now Williams has damaged that franchise.

In this day and age when everyone is “building his personal brand,” Williams’ seemingly endless appearances on “The Daily Show", Letterman, etc., finally caught up to him. Why wasn’t being the anchor on the top-rated network news show brand enough?

The news division’s problem is that it is reacting to the daily headlines, not leading and is trying to control the next cycle’s headline rather than focusing on the real problems. Why the investigation if they were going to act before the investigation was over? And why is what seems open and shut becoming such a drawn out affair?

If this is how the News Divisions leaders handle a crisis, it isn’t only Williams who should lose his job.

NBC News anchor Brian Williams is on the hot seat for his memory lapses or, better put, his memory enhancements, when it comes to his recollections of his coverage of wars and disasters. Mockery has begun! And that, my friends, is worse.

Brian says a military helicopter he was flying on was shot down. But it wasn’t. That was the chopper a half hour in front of his helicopter, which did not take fire. And, Brian, while in New Orleans covering Katina said he saw a dead body float by his room in the Ritz Carlton, but the floods were blocks away from the hotel.

I hate to say this but Brian should be fired.

I hate to say that because his news show is the one I would turn to rather than ABC or CBS, as most other Americans did. But, when it comes to being an anchor the first two, and only two, qualities we look for are, first, credibility and, second, someone who is entertaining. If the first were not required, Ryan Seacrest would be doing the anchoring.

NBC has announced it now is doing an internal investigation of these incidents. Why, I’m not sure. Brian has admitted and apologized for the embellishments. He says he “conflated” two different situations in the retelling of the helicopter story. Conflated. Interesting word. The kind of word you search for when crafting a press release announcing your apology. “What should I say? I mis-remembered? I erred? I have it!!! I conflated!!!! Perfect.”

This from the same fellow who puffs himself up by calling a helicopter a “bird,” like the real military guys sometimes do. This from the same guy who, on his nightly news show, promoted and touted his daughter starring in his network’s updated production of Peter Pan. More puffing out that barrel chest. I mean, we’re all used to cross-marketing these days, but really, promoting your own daughter on your news show?

So, we’ll wait for NBC’s investigation. I really don’t know what they’re looking for. More examples of his puffery? No more examples? They can’t do that because someone will find another. Is it an investigation to say, he made those errors but no more so we’re keeping him in his chair? Is it stalling for time while they see if this blows over and the guy they have invested $10 million a year in can keep his job?

Brian looks like a nice guy, and a smart guy. And “mistakes were made.” Unfortunately, you can’t be the one trusted by a nation for honest reporting when you can’t report honestly about your own experiences.